OUR VIEW: Finding a better route for bridge maintenance

As motorists resigned to their fate lined up Tuesday to purchase discounted E-ZPasses for the impending tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge, East Bay legislators — with the backing of the Rhode Island House leadership — tossed a Hail Mary that could change the game. Hopefully, the General Assembly comes to its s...

The Herald News, Fall River, MA

Writer

Posted Jun. 26, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 26, 2013 at 6:09 PM

Posted Jun. 26, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 26, 2013 at 6:09 PM

» Social News

As motorists resigned to their fate lined up Tuesday to purchase discounted E-ZPasses for the impending tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge, East Bay legislators — with the backing of the Rhode Island House leadership — tossed a Hail Mary that could change the game. Hopefully, the General Assembly comes to its senses in this 11th hour, postpones the new toll and devises a new, fairer bridge maintenance funding mechanism that will scrap the tolling plan all together.

The General Assembly began debate Tuesday on a series of budget articles, including one introduced earlier by state Rep. Jay Edwards, D-Tiverton, that would delay the new toll until at least April, giving lawmakers a chance to establish a study commission tasked with exploring ways to finance necessary bridge maintenance without relying on tolls from the tiny Sakonnet River Bridge.

Unfortunately, heated House debates about delaying pension funding payments — including a rare buck of leadership on the issue leaving a $12 million budget gap — and whether to default on bond payments related to the 38 Studios’ debacle prevented the leadership-endorsed budget article related to the toll study from getting to the floor for debate or discussion before the session was adjourned suddenly early Wednesday morning.

Presuming that Edwards’ leadership-endorsed budget article does make it into the House budget (expected to be approved Wednesday night), it still has hurdles to clear, including being incorporated into the final budget reconciliation with the Rhode Island Senate. In the Senate, President Teresa Paiva-Weed, D-Newport, has a prime opportunity to finally show the constituents of her region that she will protect their interests against the tolling plan she has claimed to oppose, but tacitly endorsed through inaction.

Presuming the anti-tolling plan does make it through the Assembly, there’s another big hurdle: It must be signed by Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who initially proposed the toll plan as part of last year’s budget.

If nothing else, a delay of tolls would postpone financial hardships for businesses and motorists on both sides of the bridge connecting Tiverton and Portsmouth, R.I. It would also keep Rhode Island from losing out on significant amounts of summer tax revenue from Aquidneck Island tourists, who may decide to forego the tolled trip across the tiny bridge.

For the past year, The Herald News and many East Bay legislators and local business owners and residents have sounded the warning bells about the economic detriment associated with the misguided toll plan. Unfortunately, those pleas fell on deaf ears from leadership until the budget debate was essentially underway.

The East Bay legislative delegation has introduced several bills in the House and Senate in an attempt to stop the tolls from being enacted that would devise a more equitable funding plan that would spread the pain across the state. Unfortunately, those proposals never made it out of committee. In the heat of tense budget negotiations, the legislators — presumably led by Edwards, who holds a leadership post — were able to wheel and deal to get the article calling for the study in the budget. Edwards praised the fevered pitch of Newport County residents who made their voices heard loud and clear. “It was a real, grassroots, solid, persistent effort. This one took the work of the whole county to make it happen.”

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Even more egregious is the fact that the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority moved forward hastily with plans to construct a $3 million tolling structure and set a July 10 date to start toll collection, rather than waiting for the final verdict through the budget process. The General Assembly’s inaction on this foolhardy tolling plan has caused consternation and also put the RITBA in a very difficult position.

While it may be late, the General Assembly and governor now have the opportunity to finally do their due diligence on this misguided and unjust tolling plan and come up with an equitable and sustainable way to address funding mechanisms for the state’s bridge maintenance.

Let’s hope they see the process thoroughly through this time and do the right thing.